The present invention is directed to process and apparatus for pelletizing botanical material for use as an industrial fuel. It has long been thought desirable to convert botanical waste such as tree bark, wood fiber, straw and agricultural waste such as root greens and the like into a state useable as industrial fuel. Fireplace logs created from wood chips have been widely used for some period of time. More recently, pelletizing processes have been used for creating recreational fuels. These fuels generally are not uniform in density, require some added binder to hold the product together, and do not have a heat capacity approaching that of coal. The diameter of these pelletized products is normally at least 6 cm. Such pelletized fuels are satisfactory for recreational uses such as campfires and crude stoves; however, the size, non-uniform density and heat content make such fuels impractical as a replacement for coal. Some pelletized materials have been developed which have a smaller cross-sectional dimension and are relatively dry. These products have been used to some extent to replace soft coal in certain applications. However, a good quality and inexpensive replacement for coal made from botanical materials has not been previously available.